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INFORMATICS RESEARCH LAB
Among the resources available to public affairs’ students and faculty members is an Informatics Research Lab, located at the Institute of Simulation and Training (IST) in the Central Florida Research Park, adjacent to the UCF campus in Orlando.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS REVIEW
The Public Affairs Review is the electronic student produced journal of the UCF Doctoral Program in Public Affairs. The Fall 2006 debut of this project provides a timely forum for innovative thinking on contemporary organizational, institutional, and community issues and concerns. Spanning the disciplines of criminal justice, health, public administration, and social work, the journal contributes to a knowledge base of empirical research and theory development to guide public policy change. Submissions that explore the roles of people, organizations,
environment, or technology in public policy analysis, planning, and administration are invited.
PROJECTS, GRANTS AND PUBLICATIONS
The information below pertains to research conducted by members of the core faculty in the Doctoral Program in Public Affairs.
To learn about research projects and publications in the four discipline areas in the public affairs' program, see Sponsored Research and select the discipline from those listed under "Unit Research Links."
Current Projects
Recent Grants
Recent Publications
(BY AUTHOR)
Current Projects
A Multilevel Prospective Study of the Determinants and Outcomes of Child Health and Development in Orange County, Florida
The proposed National Children’s Study of multiple cohorts of children in Orange County, Florida permits one to examine the interplay of genetic information with maternal and child exposure to environmental pathogens that precede the manifestation and detection of adverse effects on child development and health. The Study also enables one to determine the relative importance of specific etiological factors associated with the epidemiological trilogy-- the agent, host, and environment factors -- in accounting for the variation in childhood development and health outcomes. Finally, the Study makes it possible
1) to explore the causal sequelae of genetically transmitted health disorders and their disabling effects on children’s physical, mental, and social functions at different developmental stages,
2) to identify the change patterns of physical, psychological and social development in the span of 21 years,
3) to delineate the effects of both time-invariant (constant) and time-varying predictors on the trajectories of child growth, development, and health status, and 4) to build a child health informatics system to monitor the impact of environmental exposures and guide future interventions and outcome improvement efforts. The proposal is under review by NICHD, NIH.
Modeling the Effects of Organizational Innovations and Medical Technology Adoption on Hospital Performance
The purpose of this project is to investigate hospitals’ operational performance in a changing environment. The contingency-organizational perspective is used to examine the mediating effect of organizational innovation and medical technology adoption on hospitals’ effectiveness and efficiency. This project will validate the measurement of efficiency and effectiveness and will examine the structural relationships among the three components of the health care system. The longitudinal analysis of the change trajectory in hospital performance will be performed. Valuable information generated from a confirmatory analytical approach will identify ways to improve hospital performance.
Preventive Breast Cancer Screening and Examination: Educational Intervention and Evaluation
Little is known about the low screening rate and preventive health behaviors of Korean women living as a minority population. This study will investigate individual and societal factors that influence the variation in preventive practices for breast cancer in two minority groups of Korean women, living in the United States and in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Two interventions (dissemination of preventive educational materials and nurse practitioners’ preventive instruction) are proposed for evaluation of their effectiveness and outcomes. A quasi-experimental design is formulated for each of the two locations of Korean women in the sample:
1) the first experimental group will receive preventive educational materials for breast cancer;
2) the second experimental group will receive both educational materials and guided instruction for breast cancer screening and examination by nurse practitioners; and 3) the third group will be a comparison/control group. An initial survey will be conducted of the knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices about breast cancer among the study’s 1,500 participants (750 Korean Americans and 750 Korean Kazakhs). Educational interventions will target those (approximately 525 women in each population group) who have not had breast cancer examination/screening. A post-test or follow-up survey of the participants will be conducted within twelve months. The data will be analyzed by covariance structure analysis with multiple groups. The comparative structure of the study should provide valuable insights into the importance and possible means of adapting delivery of preventive care to be effective in a variety of cultural contexts.
Recent Grants
Nurse Staffing and Nursing Care Quality: Longitudinal Analysis of Nursing Home Deficiencies
This project is funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, NIH. The total grant amounts to $860,000 for four years (2003-2007). Dr. Lynn Unruh and Dr. Jackie Zhang are co-investigators of the project. The purpose of this study is to
1) assess the validity and reliability of the construct of nursing care quality, using administrative and assessment data;
2) examine differences or variations in nursing care quality with an institutional framework;
3) identify the effect of nurse staffing on nursing care quality, controlling the effects of institutional (contextual and market) factors;
4) evaluate the impact of Balanced Budget Act on nursing home practice and quality; and
5) perform benchmarking and profile analysis of high-performance nursing homes. Multivariate statistical modeling techniques will be used to analyze the six waves of OSCAR data: confirmatory factor analysis of nursing care quality in nursing homes.
(Aim 1) covariance structure modeling of institutional determinants of nursing care quality.
(Aim 2) multilevel analysis of the mediating effect of nurse staffing on nursing care quality.
(Aim 3) growth curve modeling of the impact of Medicaid reimbursement and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 on nurse staffing and quality.
(Aim 4) and benchmarking analysis of high-quality facilities.
(Aim 5) The project focuses on important predictors of the trajectories of nursing facilities’ nurse staffing and quality.
Our findings will demonstrate the importance of nurse staffing and drive the development of operational strategies to improve the structural and process aspects of nursing home quality.
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